From The Field
Asparagus
by Kevin on Apr.09, 2012, under From The Field
We are now picking asparagus almost daily. This is about 3 weeks earlier than usual. It’s available for sale through our online store which is open today (Monday, April 9, 2012). We also have available:
Beets
Cilantro
Green Garlic
Siberian Kale
Red Russian Kale
Lettuce
Green Onions
Red Potatoes
White Potatoes
Spinach
Field Notes – 4/4/2012
by Kevin on Apr.01, 2012, under From The Field
Cooley Family Farm – Field Notes
April 2012
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Allis Chalmers All Crop |
Dry Beans…………. For the past few years we have been growing varieties of dry beans with colors ranging from black, red, white and even multi colored. We like to use beans in our cooking, enjoying several delicious ways to prepare them including grinding them into flour. Trae and Lacie love multi-grain pancakes made with our bean flour. Some years, after saving beans for cooking and for seed for the next season, we’ve had a few pounds for others to try. However, our rudimentary method of harvesting has prevented us from successfully increasing the size of our crop. A few weeks ago we found a 1957 Allis Chalmers All Crop combine. These machines were a mainstay on many small farms for over 30 years, from the 1930′s well into the 60′s, capable of harvesting over 100 types of grain. As you can imagine this 55 year old machine isn’t in perfect condition but with a little TLC we hope to have it harvesting beans this fall and small grains next year.
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Country Folks Grower Magazine |
Winter Happenings……….. Last November we traveled again to Columbia Missouri to speak at the Small Farms Conference, this was the fourth time we were invited to this three day event. We shared details, with other small farm owners, about how we used a SARE grant to design and build a vegetable washer for our farm. Just a couple of weeks ago Kevin attended a NCR SARE (North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture and Education) meeting in Minneapolis Minnesota. He is a member of the Grant Review Committee that evaluates Farmer Ranchers SARE Grants submitted for the eight state region. In February Country Folks Grower magazine featured our farm on the cover. You can read the article online by clicking here and selecting the Country Folks Grower link. |
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Busy Bees! |
Bees………… The warm weather has got the bees off to a busy start. The mild winter meant the bees were moving around more and consuming more of their winter reserves. We’ve been checking in on them regularly since the end of January. We provided some extra food for two of our hives this winter to help them through. But with the strange winter we had… we saw the bees bringing pollen into the hive as early as late February! The first hive in the picture is from a split that we made at the end of June. This was an experiment and a learning experience for us. And yet another surprise… it looks like it may be our strongest hive this year! We don’t know what the weather change means for the bees natural food supply this year but are hoping we’ll be able to harvest some honey again. Stay tuned…
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Spring Plants
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Unseasonably Warm Weather………… It will be a month or more before we really know if we have had an early spring or if mother nature is just messing with us. If you’re a gardener we probably share the same feelings of excitement and confusion….. We jump at the chance to plant something in the warm spring soil but when it’s this early on the calendar we ask ourselves if we should! Well, Kevin has. He planted some late spring crops much earlier than he ever has and we may loose them to a return of winter, but if not this could be a year like no other.
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Field Notes – March 26, 2012
by Kevin on Mar.26, 2012, under From The Field
If you’ve been shopping our online store this winter you’ve enjoyed our produce ever since the end of the farmers market. It’s been 25 weeks since the end of October and we’ve been able to offer a mix of vegetables for 21 of those weeks. This week we have:
Beets
Cilantro
Kale (Red Russion and Siberian)
Leeks
Lettuce
Green Onions
Potatoes (red and white)
Spinach
Our online store is open Mondays from 7:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.. Click on the “Buy Our Vegetables” link on Monday and you will see what we have available.
Spring is here and we have been busy planting our high tunnels and some field crops. We’re looking forward to a few early harvests with the warmer temps that we’ve all been enjoying.
Busy Spring!
by Kevin on Apr.04, 2010, under From The Field
Hey everyone, it’s been longer than I had hoped between blogs but with the
weather as nice as it has been there is little time for sitting.
Right now I have lettuce to seed up but I’m waiting until tomorrow to do it.
We spent a great day at my sisters, enjoyed an awesome dinner and time
visiting with four generations and I want to finish the day relaxing with my
wife.
I’ll try to catch you up on what has been happening here on the farm; The
high tunnels are looking pretty good, lots of lettuce and other greens are
growing nicely as well as the tunnel tomatoes. Our greenhouse/tunnel areas
that we use to grow all of our transplants are home to everything from
artichoke to zucchini. With a string of unseasonably warm days I have
managed to get some early field work done, but if you were to drive by you
would see last seasons tomato cages still standing like sentinels in the
fields yet to be pulled up and relocated to where they will be used for this
years anticipated crop … what have I been doing since last November?
We will start harvesting lettuces this week and soon the asparagus will be
begging to be picked. With the berry bushes and fruit trees greening up we
have to hope that the warm weather is here to stay, early warm weather
growth can easily be wiped away with one hard freeze. There’s over a month
before the average frost free date so keep those fingers crossed!
Growing more than food!
by Kevin on Feb.15, 2010, under From The Field
This past season we had the great fortune of having a couple of outstanding farm hands: Mary and Whitney. Both Mary and Whitney attended our organic gardening presentation at the Tippecanoe County Library and afterward told us that they would like to work on our farm.
Whitney and Mary
As the month of May grew wetter and our planting schedules delayed, we found ourselves needing extra help to get the tomato, pepper & eggplant transplants in the ground. We dug out their phone numbers and gave them a call. “We need help…can you be here tomorrow?” They showed up to help get those transplants in the ground and continued to help when they could find time in their busy schedules. We are so impressed with Mary and Whitney that we want to share a little about them and their passions for improving the food network.
Mary
Mary Lehmkuhl, is a junior at Purdue with an Environmental Plant Studies Major in the Botany and Plant Pathology Department. Mary’s original interest were in conservation and restoration of forests and hot spots around the world. While working in local and Purdue greenhouses, for us here on the farm and in her own ever-expanding garden, Mary’s interests took her deeper into local and organic foods as well as sustainable agriculture.
Currently Mary is taking part in a sustainable agriculture class at Purdue and is learning about current and indigenous methods in agriculture. This coming summer Mary will be traveling to Costa Rica to take part in an internship where she will be studying BioChar. Mary is also very active in Cityfoods, an up and coming Lafayette area food co-op. Mary’s goal is to help creat a more sustainable way of life, by creating a local sustainable food movement, via organic agriculture and local food co-ops.
Whitney
Whitney Sewell, is fascinated with both growing and cooking food. Her interests in gardening and learning to grow more of her own food not only lead her to us but also to her receiving a certification in Permiculture Design from Indiana University. In November Whitney moved to Saint Louis to join the Gateways Greening’s education team, a non-profit organization that works to establish gardening as a tool for health and wellness in urban schools and communities. This fall Whitney wrote curriculums and created development workshops for several schools and in the spring she will be teaching gardening work shops.
Whitney is also actively working to change policies that will strengthen and support the small agriculture and local food movement by working with the Saint Louis Food Policy Council, Healthy Youth Partnerships, Child Day Care Association and by setting on the Mayors’ health and wellness committee. In the future Whitney will be pursuing a Master’s in Public Health, and continue to focus
on gardening as a tool for health and wellness.
Customers support of our farming endeavors allow us to share our experiences and knowledge with others and in turn they to will help grow a better food system.
February 7, 2010
by Kevin on Feb.07, 2010, under From The Field
Sure was nice to have sunshine this weekend. The clear blue sky and the suns’ warm rays made it easier to accept that the high temperatures didn’t make it over the freezing point. With just a few things remaining to be harvested from our high tunnels it’s that time of year when we turn our focus to the coming season.
Winter beds have to be cleared out and the soil worked in preparation of the early plantings to come. As strange as it may seem, it can actually become more challenging in the tunnels this time of year than in the past months. As the earth tilts and the suns’ angel decreases, temperature swings can drive me (and the plants) crazy! Because it’s still winter, night temperatures can fall into the single digits and daytime temperatures within the tunnels can soar.
These changing conditions and endless opportunities make winter gardening both challenging and rewarding. I hope some day to have a seamless winter harvest. For now I will keep trying new ideas, taking notes and enjoying all the days of winter harvests that didn’t exist in years past. kc
Spring Has Arrived!
by Kevin on Feb.01, 2010, under From The Field
At least in our basement. Yes the first tender plants of spring have emerged and our relentless quest for this seasons fresh food has begun. Most of our seed selections have been made, orders placed with the suppliers and a large portion of those seeds have already arrived here on the farm.
I’m happy that I have had some cold weather, allowing me to get a good start on our first seedings but I would sure welcome a little break form the grips of winter. There is a lot of things that need to be done outside even during this time of year. I need to get started preparing the greenhouse, repairing equipment and there are still more improvements needing to be made to our barn.
For now I will focus on getting four more flats seeded up before Sunday night, come Monday a new week begins with its own schedule and more flats to seed up. kc
